Saint Jan Sarkander Biography, Feast Day, Date of Birth, Country of Birth, Profession, Place of Work, Date of Death, Place of Death, Beatification Date, Canonization Date
Jan Sarkander Biography |
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| Date of Birth | 20 December 1576 AD |
|---|---|
| Country of Birth | Poland of Europe |
| Matrimony/Holy Orders | Saints who were Married |
| Profession | Priest |
| Place of Work | Olmütz |
| Date of Death | 17 March 1620 |
| Place of Death | Olomouc, Moravia (in the modern Czech Republic) |
| Feast Day | March 17 |
| Beatification | Beatified by Pope Blessed Pius IX at Rome, Italy on 6 May 1860 |
| Canonization | Canonized by Pope John Paul II at Olomouc, the Czech Republic on Sunday 21 May 1995 |
| Patron Saint of | |
St Jan Sarkander Biography
He was also known as:
- John Sarkander
- Johannes Sarkander
- Martyr of the Confessional
St Jan Sarkander was born on 20 December 1576 at Skotschau (Skoczow), Austrian Silesia (in modern Poland). He was the son of Georg Mathias Sarkander and Helene Kornicz Sarkander. St Jan was born in a time and place in the midst of the turmoil of the Protestant Reformation. His father died when Jan was still young, and the family then moved to Pribor.
He married, but his wife died when they were young, and they had no children.
Juan’s Life
He gets education from Jesuits in Prague, receiving a master of philosophy degree in 1603 AD. Jan also studies theology in Austria. he is then ordained in 1607 AD at Grozin. He was a curate at Boskowitz in 1613 AD. Parish priest at Olmütz in 1616 AD. There he became the center of a struggle for the hearts and souls of the local people. He gets support by Baron von Labkowitz of Moravia but bitterly opposes by the wealthy anti–Catholic landowner Bitowsky von Bystritz.
The year 1618 AD saw the start of the Thirty Years War between Catholic and Protestant armies. When Protestant forces occupy Hollenschau, Jan is briefly exiled to Poland but returns to minister to his now oppressed parish flock. The polish forces moved into the area in 1620 AD, and the battle seemed imminent. Jan also visited the field commander, carrying the Blessed Sacrament in a monstrance as a shield and chastisement. No battles are fought in the area of Hollenshau.
Seizing the opportunity to brand him a spy, and thus explain the lack of attack by the Polish troops, his enemy von Bystritz denounced Father Jan as a traitor. Jan then gets an arrest, taken to Olmütz, and tortured for a confession, for revenge, and to get him to break the seal of the confessional and supply damaging information about his patron and parishioner Baron von Labkowitz. Sarkander is racked, beaten and murdered. Juan clung to his faith and gave his tormentors nothing.
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